resolutions

Did You Fail At Resolutions?

Written by: Debbie

Are You One of the New Year’s Resolution Failures?

At this point, life has usually settled back into its normal routine now that the holidays are over. Unfortunately, this often includes the return of old habits you had resolved to change.

After all the parties and celebrations, the traditional New Year’s resolution arrives with great hope. However, statistics tell a different story. In fact, only about eight percent of people who make a resolution will successfully keep it. As a result, when a resolution isn’t maintained, it often leads to feelings of disappointment or failure.

Quite honestly, I shudder to think that 92 percent of us may walk around feeling like failures. Moreover, that image brings to mind a kind of emotional “walking dead,” going through the motions while quietly carrying self-blame.

Real Client Stories: Why Resolutions Really Fail

I recently had a client tear up as she shared how she had repeatedly failed at her goal of weight loss. Over the years, she had managed to lower the number on the scale. However, each time, the weight returned — and often surpassed her previous high.

This year, she believed, was finally going to be her year. Unfortunately, when she “failed” again, the tears poured down her face. While in trance, however, she made a powerful discovery. She realized she was unconsciously sabotaging herself due to old, unresolved family issues.

From there, we shifted our focus. Instead of working on weight loss, we worked on forgiveness. In addition, we addressed the lessons hidden within those painful experiences. We also focused on rebuilding her self-esteem. Notably, what we did not work on was her weight.

And here’s the part you already expect. As a result of this inner work, her weight began to drop naturally. In other words, once she stopped stuffing emotions and protecting herself with extra layers, her body no longer needed to hold on.

When Quitting Smoking Isn’t About Nicotine

Similarly, another woman contacted me about her desire to quit smoking. In the past, she had made it as far as three months smoke-free. However, each time, she eventually picked up a cigarette again.

She told me, “I just can’t fail again. I need to quit.” Instead of immediately agreeing, I encouraged her to come in so we could determine whether she was truly ready. Using muscle testing, we confirmed that she genuinely wanted to stop. Therefore, the next step was to find the real key.

As we talked, she revealed something important. She had started smoking with her sister, sneaking cigarettes from their parents. Over time, smoking became a bonding ritual. Even years later, she continued smoking “in memory” of her sister.

Consequently, quitting felt like abandonment. Once we uncovered that belief, everything changed. Together, we found a new way to honor her sister — one that aligned with health and self-care. Most importantly, she realized her sister would want her to live fully and well. In that moment, she stopped smoking.

Children, Coping, and Unconscious Habits

In another case, a gentleman called to ask about his son’s nail biting. His son desperately wanted to stop and regularly made it a resolution. Still, he would find himself unconsciously chewing his nails once again.

Eventually, we traced the behavior back to its origin. The nail biting began during a particularly stressful period. At that time, his mother received a serious medical diagnosis, while his father lost his job due to downsizing. Naturally, the child felt his world turn upside down.

Therefore, our work focused on what he could and could not control. In addition, we strengthened the coping skills he already had and introduced a few new ones. Interestingly, we never directly addressed the nail biting. Nevertheless, once his nervous system felt safer, the behavior stopped on its own.

Why Hypnosis Works When Willpower Fails

Ultimately, there are as many resolutions as there are people making them. If you find a method that truly works for you, by all means, use it. However, if you continue to struggle despite sincere effort, it may be time to look deeper.

That is where hypnosis can help. Whether your goal is to build unshakable self-confidence, quit smoking, lose weight, or eliminate insomnia, change becomes possible when you work with the inner mind. After all, hypnosis is a powerful tool for creating lasting transformation.

Your mind is extraordinarily powerful. Therefore, when you learn how to harness it intentionally, you can use that power for your growth, healing, and long-term success.

Curious What Your Inner Mind Is Ready to Release?

Sometimes the hardest part of change isn’t effort — it’s knowing where to begin. Hypnosis helps uncover the root of habits that no longer serve you and gently guides your mind toward healthier, more supportive choices.

If something in this article resonated with you, that’s not an accident. It may be your inner mind signaling that it’s ready for something new.

Reach out to learn more about hypnosis sessions and how they can support the changes you’ve been trying to make: 727-215-0283

More about how hypnosis can help you: https://wisdomhypnosis.com/services/

Forget New Year’s Resolutions!

Written by: Debbie

To quote my son who is a scientist, “A year is merely one (roughly) of earth’s revolutions around the Sun, as it has done billions of times. It is a fact of gravity; an inanimate concept that we use to visualize time, and as such cannot be ‘good’ nor ‘evil’.”

Still, many of us said good bye to 2016 with delight. It was a challenging year at so many levels. The hope for 2017 is to find our way to ‘happy’. In the attempt to find this possible bliss, many of us make new year’s resolutions to improve. Thus we have insured, at least a little bit, that the year will once again become a challenge.

New Year’s Resolutions are one more way to say we aren’t enough.

Not thin enough or rich enough or athletic enough according to the top resolutions people make. What’s more, after the initial exuberance wears off, often we give up. This reinforces our belief that we are broken and not enough.

What if instead of resolving to change, we embraced who we are? What if we began to play more instead of “work out”? Maybe we could experiment more with new healthy recipes instead of diet. We could make a challenge out of finding ways to spend less and save more. It is really a matter of perspective after all.

I was told a story of a woman who bought a lovely home, her dream home near the water. She loved that she could hear the sound of crashing waves from her windows. Until the first night in her new home, when she heard dogs barking. It sounded like lots of dogs and lots of barking. It kept her awake and her anger simmered.

After several nights of the constant barking, she decided to find this kennel and put an end to the noise somehow. She drove in the direction of the noise and found herself going quite a ways, finally to a road that ran right in front of the beach.

She found the source of the barking. On a big rock, out from the shore were dozens of seals, having a grand time, barking at each other and doing whatever it is that seals do in the middle of the night. They were a long way from where she lived, but the noise carried over the water. She stood and watched and thought she would never sleep again.

Funny thing, she did sleep. In fact she slept peacefully. Somehow knowing it was the sounds of joy and seals gave her comfort. She found the noise reassuring, just like the sounds of the waves on the shore or rain on her bedroom window.

I have found the same to be in my life. The young boys from up the street wake me often when they walk with their dog and their father. Yes, on my days off I like to steal a few extra moments of shut eye, but the pride with which they tell their father how high they can count makes it all so sweet.

What if you believed you have value the way you are? What if you started to act as if that was true? What changes might come about if instead of making new year’s resolutions to change you decided to celebrate who you are now? I can only wonder, but you my friend can find out for sure.

Chart illustrating eight traits of emotional hunger and their physical and emotional signs.

How To Keep Your Resolutions

Written by: Debbie

It’s a new year and time for a new start, or so we thought on New Year’s Eve. We were determined to put the holidays and the past behind us and become that person we believe we should be. So, break out the resolutions. This is the year I will lose weight! This is the year I will become more financially stable. This is the year I quit smoking. Now, half way into the first month, we are over eating, over spending and still smoking once again. If that is you, don’t fret, you are a part of the 40% of people who bothered to make a resolution and subsequently were unable to keep it. There is hope still to make those changes, don’t give up.

One of the reasons we tend to fail at resolutions is that we try to make too many changes at once, without really defining what they are. Unhealthy behaviors develop over the course of time. Thus, replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones requires time. Don’t get overwhelmed and think that you have to reassess everything in your life. Instead, work toward changing one thing at a time. Break that goal down as well, into smaller more manageable actions. If, for example, your aim is to exercise more frequently, schedule three or four days a week at the gym instead of seven.

Be sure to notice the changes you have made. All too often we focus on what we haven’t done, instead of what we have. When I ask my clients how they have done since a previous session, often the response is all about what they haven’t done. I have to stop them and remind them, “what was the question?” It is then that they will begin to see all the changes that have occurred. Once aware of those changes, we can build upon that success with more successes. Reward yourself for each small step along the journey to success. Find a healthy way to feel good about those changes.